


Spectemur agendo

by Soleera



Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [1]
Category: 2770 ab urbe condita - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Rome, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26645842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soleera/pseuds/Soleera
Summary: Cinna always thought that you should keep some information for yourself. Not that Aurelia would listen to her.
Series: Āctiōnēs secundum fideī [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938643
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10
Collections: 2770 ab urbe condita - the collected fiction





	Spectemur agendo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mossgreen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossgreen/gifts), [Imperial_Dragon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imperial_Dragon/gifts).



> Inspired by the works of Mossgreen an Imperial_Dragon. If you haven't read their storys I recommend to do so - they are great works.
> 
> Also: I'm just playing in the sandbox and hope I don't damage anything. All mistakes are my own.

Spectemur agendo

Checking people up was something that every Imperial Security officer did on occasion. Usually, these people were involved in some kind of plot against the emperor or the empire itself. Checking people up because they treated their slaves a little bit too harshly was far more uncommon. Checking people up, because the emperor's concubīnus was worried about the treatment of a certain slave who was becoming an unwilling star on VosTubum, because of the things his master shared via Video with the rest of the empire was… well. That happened probably only once in your life.

But telling your lover that you checked up a family member of his was actually rather unwise and not something you should do. Especially if said lover was not even in the same city. And you shouldn’t vacate to the house of a friend, to set up a secure Kerne-link, because your own domus had too many ears listing in.

Aurelia Neratia Honoria had just done all of the aforementioned and Cinna debated silently with herself, why exactly she didn’t stop her friend from doing so. After all, she could have come up with… security regulations. Or something equally silly. She gladly ignored the fact that Aurelia asked their superior for clearance first.

On second thought though…

Maybe she hadn’t stopped Aurelia because the younger woman looked oh so guilty, every time she even received a simple mail from her lover and couldn’t lie to Publius Varius Metellus, even if her life depended on it - Cinna always wondered about that. Aurelia was perfectly capable of deceiving everybody else around her. Nobody would think that the petite and beautiful patrician girl with the big brown eyes and the innocent smile could be up to no good. Even Cinna had been fooled and she prided herself with the ability to know when she was tricked. 

Maybe she hadn't acted, because Aurelia was her usual partner in crime. The whole Serene Empire was dependent on electronic databanks. Cinna was hard-pressed to think of even one that hadn’t been… ‘checked’… by them. Of course, they always had an explicit order from higher up to do so – neither Aurelia nor she had a wish for enslavement, after all. Cinna even less when her friend – she was manumitted only ten years ago and would never go back to this life willingly.

Cinna studied the other woman who had at least the decency to look a little bit guilty, while she stared at the screen of the laptop and the into the face of a young man, who looked less when amused.

_Or maybe I just like the never-ending entertainment Auri’s love life brings me _, Cinna thought without showing her glee. As a līberta, she knew how to keep a blank face. She looked back to the screen of the laptop, half expecting the man on the other end of the link to explode in Aurelia's face.__

____

They had placed the device on a small table, which had been dragged before one of the couches in the small atrium of Cinna's home, where both women were currently sitting. If anyone would walk in right now, it would be obvious for the spectator why Aurelia was anxious while the lady of the house seemed rather relaxed. Fortunately, nobody else was with them since Cinna had been nice enough to send her own house-slaves to the kitchen. There was simply no need to embarrass Aurelia before an audience, even if the said audience were only slaves.

__

Cinna’s thoughts were interrupted when Publius finally decided to comment on the confession of his girlfriend.

__

“So let me get that straight: You hacked into my father’s credit-account, checked the documents SIPAS and the Bureau have on him and his slaves, only because a member of the imperial household thinks, he mistreats his new toy?”

__

“It was an order”, Aurelia murmured, while she wrung her hands “You have to admit, some of the Videos your father put out are quite…”

__

“Hot”, Cinna interjected and got an amused snort from the man on the screen, accompanied with an accusing stare from the piercing blue eyes of his.

__

“Let me guess: You helped her, didn’t you?”

__

Cinna gave him an exasperated look before she answered “Orders are orders, Publius Varius Metellus. And your father has a rather sadistic streak. No wonder some people are worried that he is going to break his boy. Be glad that Aurelia wanted to tell you about our latest research as soon as we were done. And be thankful that you have a high enough security clearance, so she can actually tell you what she is doing for ImpSec.”

__

“I’m sitting right here, in case you two have forgotten”, Aurelia muttered, slightly pouting, while Cinna just rolled her eyes. Her friend was never doing all too well if she got the impression that she was ignored.

__

“Poor darling”, Publius answered, dryly. “Want a cuddle?”

__

“If that would only be possible”, Aurelia answered darkly, while pure frustration coloured her voice. “Whenever you get back from this backwater…”

__

“India has a fairly rich culture that is at least as old as ours, Auri” Cinna interjected but was ignored.

__

“…I will drag you to one of my grandmother’s country estates, lock the doors and don’t let you out of bed until the next Saturnalia” Aurelia finished with an audible growl.

__

The silence that followed these statement lasted for a minute or so before Publius snickered.

__

“I certainly wouldn’t mind that. Do you think we can elope in the next few months? I have a high enough rank that I’m allowed to bring my spouse with me…”

__

Cinna grabbed the laptop and levelled a stern look at first Publius and then Aurelia. She knew these to idiots at least for four years now and they had, usually, a lot more common sense than the rest of the upper-class citizens around their age. Apparently, such things took a backseat if they were deprived of the possibility of having sex with each other.

__

“If one of you two gobsmacked lovebirds mentions ever again that you are dumb enough to elope with each other, at least while I’m present, I will make sure that you regret it” she threatened.

__

Not that it helped her. The couple just snorted in disbelief.

__

“Relax, Cinna”, Aurelia answered. “Should that ever happen I’m sure nobody would drag you into this.”

__

“Yes”, Publius agreed while laughing “Because our families will be busy hiding our bodies after they murdered us. Probably one of the few occasions where my parents can work with each other peacefully.”

__

Aurelia nodded in agreement, before her she pulled a face “I think we should be more concerned about my grandmother teaming up with your mother. They are already planning the betrothal party.”

__

“Another reason to run away” Publius muttered and gave an apologetic shrug as Cinna gave him a look that could have peeled the paint from the walls around her.

__

After another moment of silence, Aurelia sighed audibly.

__

“Back to the topic”, she said. “You will be pleased to know, that we didn’t find any dirt on your father or his business. And, surprisingly enough, his boy, Ven, seems well. Quite content with his situation, I might add.”

__

“Big surprise”, Publius answered with a snarky undertone. “My father is strict, not a monster. His slaves have honestly nothing to complain about. You two are just a little bit too squeamish.”

__

_Well_ , Cinna thought as she ignored the ongoing conversation, _considering what your father does to him, I think Ven would disagree._

__

But it wasn’t for her to judge. The boy was healthy, had no obvious injuries (and no hidden either, since she had watched the slave in question walking down a street and hadn’t detected even a slight limp or anything similar) and seemed relatively unbroken in personality and mind. Cinna had checked the last part by putting a slave collar around her own neck and bumping into Ven on the street.  
It was by no means a decision she made lightly.

__

The act of allowing the hated leather of the collar even anywhere near her neck had been nauseating. But it was a necessary action if she wanted the slim chance of having a, hopefully, relatively honest conversation with Ven.

__

She doubted that he would give away anything if she approached him as the freedwoman she actually was. Cinna had seen enough of his behaviour to know that he was well trained and would behave exactly how a slave should. Obedient and quiet. Keeping as much of his thoughts to himself as he could. Their own minds were the only thing that truly belonged to a slave and that no master could claim fully for themselves after all.

__

It had taken her nearly two weeks to find the right opportunity for that little stint. The boy wasn’t leaving the house of his master often and when he did, it was usually in the company of the said master. Cinna had no wish to meet Publius father in person, at least not, if she aimed for an undisturbed conversation with his concubinus.

__

All things considered, it was a rather pleasing talk. Ven was smart, he was kind and – Cinna could admit that at least to herself – quite handsome. His green eyes and adorable smile could have made her swoon if she wouldn’t have been happily married.

__

The boy even apologized to her for nearly running her over and gave her a compassionate look, when he noticed the scars on her left arm. Cinna gave him a thankful smile for that, while she tried to evaluate, how bad his situation really was.

__

According to Ven: It could be worse and he was fully capable to handle whatever his master would do to him.

__

She nearly lost her own equilibrium about the fact that the slave was more concerned for her safety, then for his own. She tried her best to soothe his worries by telling him, that these scars were from her former mistress and that her current master never raised his hand against her so far. Both statements were true. Cinna was just skipping the part were the said last master freed and married her nearly ten years ago. She also stomped the smouldering hate for her first mistress ruthlessly down. Better not to think about that bitch at all.

__

The conversation hadn’t been long but it left a certain impression with her. And it seemed with Aurelia too, who had been listening in through the small microphone that had been hidden in the slave collar. 

__

Around two weeks later, after they spoke to two or three other slaves from the household of the older Varius Metellus, they came to the same conclusion: Ven was doing as well as a bed-slave could be. No need to intervene at all. Both Aurelia and Cinna had put that statement in their final report.

__

Three days later Aurelia asked their supervisor if the check up on Drusus Varius Metellus and his slave Ven was classified. The answer was clear: No, the check-up itself was not classified. Only who had requested the whole thing was.

__

But all of this led finally to Aurelia stumping into the domus of her friend when Cinna’s husband was away for work and Cinna’s children were to school and kindergarten.

__

Cinna frowned and looked back at Aurelia, who was still talking to Publius. It was time to end this before her kids stormed through the door and threw their things around. She had no desire to clean up the atrium herself, which meant that she should get her own slaves back out of the kitchen. She refused to dwell on the fact how strange it probably sounded, that she, a former slave who had hated her enslavement with every fibre of her being, owned, now that she was free, other human beings, who hated their predicament probably as much as she had back then.

__

On the other hand, what should anybody expect then one of her best friends was a patrician girl who viewed having slaves as something like a birthright and who had a lover with an equal worldview?  
She batted these very unhelpful thoughts away and gave Aurelia a slight slap to the shoulder.

__

“What?” the other woman asked, bewilderment colouring her voice.

__

“My kids will be home soon. Do you want to be here when they break the front door down or will you use your chance of an easy escape?”

__

“Use your chance, Auri. My time for talking with somebody back home is up, either way”, Publius interjected.

__

Aurelia pulled a face.

__

“Well, then I go home. As fun as watching the chaos that your brats leave in their wake is, I do have things to do”, she finally said and blow a kiss to the screen of the laptop. “Behave, darling. And if that isn’t possible I want all the details.”

__

Publius gave her a disbelieving look. “I’m not on vacation, you know. There is actual work to do. And you better behave yourself, future wife of mine. Cinna will tell me if you don’t.”

__

“Depends on what I get for this information” Cinna muttered.

__

“I’ll pay you handsomely” he assured her before he winked at Aurelia and ended the call.

__

The two women spent the next few minutes in amicable silence which was finally broken by a deep sigh from Aurelia. Cinna just gave her a serene look.

__

“Do you think it’s dumb that I wait for him?”, Aurelia asked and her friend snorted.

__

“No. But I will call you an utter idiot if you don’t marry him as soon as he is back from India”, Cinna answered, before she stretched her back and got to her feet.

__

Time to get her household in order and to make sure that Aurelia got home to her grandmother. The old woman probably wondered what her granddaughter was up to on her free day. Cinna shrugged her shoulders inwardly.

__

Aurelia would find a perfectly innocent and reasonable explanation for every question her nosy relative would throw at her. Aurelia's handmaid Talia, who was only twelve years old and terrible shy, would have no answer either, since she had been banned from the atrium, too.

__

As she walked into the kitchen to give everyone a sign that they could leave the room now, she ignored the unhappy look the cook gave her and instead made sure that Talia could leave first. The girl made a beeline in the direction of her mistress and seemed rather pleased then Aurelia told her that it was time to go.

__

Only when she had made sure that her friend and the young slave-girl were safely on their way home, Cinna allowed herself a deep breath and ventured back into the kitchen.

__

“Next time, it would be very kind of you, if you make them all wait somewhere else. It’s hard to get anything done when the culīna is crowded like the Forum on a warm spring day”, Gracia, finally again in control of the kitchen, grumbled in her direction.

__

“Noted. But now I want a coffee”, Cinna answered.

__

Gracia gave her an amused look “I don’t think you have time for that, Domina.”

__

Cinna gave her a puzzled look but couldn't ask what she meant. A loud crash sounded from the atrium, followed by a wail of a toddler and a loud: “MOM!”

__

“Pluto’s ass”, Cinna cursed under her breath, as she turned on her heel. “The idiot who said that there is no greater joy in life than being a mother clearly didn’t raise his children by himself.”

__

Gracia's only answer was a knowing laugh.

__

**Author's Note:**

> culīna – kitchen  
> concubīnus: a male concubine or bed-slave. concubīnae, female concubines, weren't necessarily slaves, but the male version were  
> VosTubum – Youtube  
> Kerne – Skype  
> domus: townhouse  
> ImpSec - Imperial Security, a complex of organisations directly contributing to the security of the Imperial family – invented by Imperial_Dragon
> 
> Spectemur agendo (Title) - Let us be judged by our acts
> 
> Āctiōnēs secundum fideī (Title of the series) – action follows beliefs – we act according to what we believe (ourselves to be)


End file.
